Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Farah2310]

Hello,

I am looking to come teach English in S. Korea this January. I am super excited and can't wait. I have been talking to a bunch of recruiters and basically trying to find out which one is going to give me the best offer. So I finally found an offer that seemed good at first but after thinking about I am unsure of what to do. So here are the details:
-the name of the school is Poly korea school
-I am going to be living in Hongdae ( which I hear is very fun, is that true?)
- The hours are 9am to 7:30pm
- The pay is 2.8 won

Firstly, has anyone heard of Poly? I have been getting mixed reviews. Also, is 2.8 won worth working 200 hours a month? oh and after taxes and all that stuff, the salary is around 2.6, so 2.6 for 200 hrs. Should I find a school that has less hours and also pays less? I dont mind working but I also want to experience S. korea. ( or leave sight seeing and all that stuff to the weekend) But at the same time i have college loans that need to be taken care of, so the extra money would come in handy. Also, I am so scared that once I get to S. korea that i am going to be alone and lonely . Is it easy to meet people like yourself, i know ill need acquaintances in order to maintain sanity!

I'm so confused! what to do!? what would you do!?
Thank you so much !

[Ramen]

[nate2008]

If you have loans to take care of, I highly recommend NOT coming to Korea. This is not to bash on Korea, I really enjoy it here, but the exchange rate right now is AWFUL. 2.6million won used to be around 2,500-2,700 USDollars. As of this moment, 2.8million won = 1,757 USDollars.

$1,757 / 200 hours = $8.79/hour

That's barely above a minimum wage job back in the States. If you are coming here for the "experience", more power to you, but keep in mind that sending money home each month for loans is going to be PAINFUL.

[Otherside]

Hongdae's great. It's arguably the best place in Seoul to go partying, and pretty central. As you are working in a Hagwon and will finish late, this is probably the best place to be if you are looking for a good night life.

200 teaching hours. Assuming that's 200 classes of 40mins a piece, its gonna be really heavy. If it's 200x60minutes= 300!! classes of 40mins a piece, then i'll say that its UNBEARABLY bad. Salary of 2.8 is nice though. To put into perspective, public school teachers earn (at the bottom of the scale) earn 2mill for 88x40min classes a month, and most other Hagwons offer 2.2-2.3mill for 120 classes of 40mins a month. You do the math on which is better?

[Paji eh Wong]

That is a brutal schedule.

You need to find out a few things.
1) What constitutes one hour? 50 minute hours make a big difference.
2) How much you are making per hour?

[jellobean]

From what I've seen over the years, the general consensus on POLY is a lot of work and admin junk for okay pay. It also depends a lot on the branch and the current situation there. Be sure to talk to a current teacher when they are not at work about the conditions. That said, as a newbie you will have difficulty getting that much money anywhere else. But, being in Hongdae you will still be able to have a decent social life with those house because of your locate; no late nights during the week because of the 9am start, but you are right in the action for the weekend and can always do the dinner thing during the week.

As another poster said. The exchange is horrible right now. If you only need to make minimum monthly payments of a few hundred dollars and can bank the rest until the exchange gets better (and you are among those that believe it will) then it's not too bad. CDs here are paying 5-6% right now so banking everything above your minimum payments might still get you a good chunk of loans paid off when the exchange comes back (provided it does -- I'm on who believes it will -- there are naysayers who think it won't).

[krshearman74]

I had some friends who worked at a Poly school out in Mok-dong (which I'm sure means nothing to you since you're not here yet ). They seemed to enjoy the job because they got to teach a lot more than just your basic ESL stuff. But the workload is a bit hectic. The money sounds pretty good for your first time out... I will echo what others have said about the exchange right now ... awful.

Anyway, good luck. Also, be very careful about recruiters... they are, after all, in it for the money they get from placing you at a school.

[D.D.]

Take a public school job and with extra classes you can earn 2.8 doing about 108 classes a month. The rest of the time you can relax. 200 classes a month would be too much stress.

Work to live, not live to work.

[AussieGav]

[Cerriowen]

Three reasons I wouldn't take that job

1) 200 hours... holy crap. Next.
2) If you're here for money, 2.8m isn't going to amount to much with the current exchange rate.
3) If you're here for money, you probably DON'T want to be in the biggest party district.

[T-J]

[AussieGav]

I agree with TJ. Also, the OP didn't say she was comming from the US, there are other nationalities here too, although predominatly people from the US. Factoring in all elements of the equation is important, I know I used to earn much bigger numbers before Korea, but my expenses were much bigger numbers too. I could'nt afford to eat out very often and rarely saved much. In Korea I can have a nice and enjoyable lifestyle and send money home all while saving a bit here. Look at the whole picture.

[PigeonFart]

Well she's definitely from the US or Canada because POLY don't think that the people from the sovereign nations of; Australia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa are as good as their nasal North American cousins.
[My good gosh, that's one long sentence].

[Oreovictim]

9:00-7:30? You won't have the energy to meet people after work with those hours. At my school (a real hell hole), I work 10:00-7:30 two times a week. Those days suck, let me tell you. What was I thinking? Don't walk; run from this job.

I know a few guys who do this. They work at an easy job, something like 2:00-8:00. But then they illegally teach in the morning. One person I know works one hour a day at a kindy hagwon for 40,000 won an hour. So he pulls in 800,000 won just for doing a little work with some kindy kids.

Actually, I don't recommend doing illegal work like that - too risky. I'm just letting you know your options. But, yeah, as for making 2.8. If they're paying you that much, then they're really going to work your a$$.

[Farah2310]

thanks for all the help!